


All's Fair in Love and War

by DiminutiveFox



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Assumptions, Best Friends, Bickering, Espionage, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, London, Male-Female Friendship, Sarcasm, Steve Rogers Defence squad, The Blitz, WW2, air raids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:57:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8169187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiminutiveFox/pseuds/DiminutiveFox
Summary: Founding member and President of the “Steve-is-Great” Fan-club agrees to Co-Presidency with fellow Steve loving Brunette. Peggy and Bucky don't quite get off on the right foot, however, they eventually find common ground in mutual appreciation of one Steven Grant Rogers.





	1. After the Iris Club

**Author's Note:**

> This one's supposed to fit into some missing time somewhere between hunting/destroying HYDRA bases. Peggy and Bucky have met a handful of times, none of which have been particularly amiable. Some assumptions were made on both sides, and a sneaky mission to pick up some intel in good old London town forces the two of them to air out their grievances with one another.

Peggy giggled as she stumbled a little into Bucky’s side. He chuckled warmly at her, adjusted his hold on her arm twined through his to better steady her, and with his other hand made a quick adjustment to the angle of his hat against the cool night air of London town. Peggy’s heels clicked on the cobblestones, the music from the dance hall behind them faded as the door closed behind them. That didn’t stop Bucky from continuing the tune by humming cheerfully as they made their slightly staggering way down the street and around the corner. There were a few other couples around the streets that night, some heading towards the dancehall, hair coiffed and whisping slightly out of artful curls, dress shirts well pressed and shoes well shined. An elderly couple strolled slowly past them, giving them a fond look. They continued on their way a little longer, all carefree and enjoying a night of fun amidst the warfare, then, when Bucky felt Peggy’s grip tighten on his arm and her perfectly painted nails dug into him through his jacket, he slowed a little, giving her hand a little understanding pat. _Message received._

They walked on down the street, turned into the next, passing under pools of amber lamplight. The both of them making the perfect picture of a rather stylish couple out enjoying a night on the town, perhaps slightly tipsily making their way back to their rooms or the next dancehall. The next street was much quieter, just a couple of young lads in uniform out for the night. All nice and calm. Peggy leaned into Bucky’s side, wrapping her arm further around his and drawing his shoulder closer for her to lean on.

“Two men behind us,” she whispered softly. From behind, it would look as if she were leaning in for a kiss. “Next alleyway, Sergeant?”

“Sure thing, Mogs.” He replied, a little louder than a whisper, pulling his arm free of hers just in time to avoid the inevitable retaliation for the despised nickname. Instead, he slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, grinning and pointedly ignoring the fuming glare inches from his jugular. 

Rather than giving him what he rightly had coming to him, Peggy let her fury go in another giggle. She gave a little nervous looking glance around before they reached the next alleyway, careful not to actually look behind her fully. Bucky had stopped his humming but his grin was still in place, at least until they entered the narrow little alley. The instant they were off the street proper, Peggy ducked out from under his arm, her back going ramrod straight, her head tilted up defiantly and her hand already drawing a small but heavy item from her purse. Bucky rolled his eyes a little at her before settling his balance and listening carefully for the footsteps following after them.

Nearly fifteen seconds later two men with their hats pulled down low sprung rather too quickly around the corner into the alley. They had about half a second to choke on their surprise before they were quickly and efficiently knocked unconscious. One by a swift blow from a conveniently small but weighty cudgel, and the other from a neat, well-practised right hook.

Peggy took a step back, brushed down her skirt in a business-like manner and gave the men at their feet an appraising look.

“Pretty handy there, Mogs.” Bucky nodded to the cudgel in her hand still. The look Peggy gave him was about as sharp as edged steel.

“Call me ‘Mogs’ one more time and you’ll get to experience it first-hand.”

Bucky shrugged and crouched to rifle through the pockets of their would-be assailants.

“Didn’t you understand my signal?” Peggy asked curtly. “I thought I was being rather clear.”

“Yeah, I got yer message. M’surprised m’not bleeding.” He grumbled lightly. “You wanna think about cuttin’ those claws a’yours?”

Bucky was nonchalant on the outside, but he was also recalling Steve telling him about the time Peggy had shot at him in Howards lab. He didn’t doubt for a second Peggy would do it, but then she’d have to account for his black eye when they returned to the SSR. Maybe the thought of not wanting to actually brain Captain Roger’s best friend would be enough to give him a little leeway with this particular Agent.

“Not HYDRA goons. Got nuthin’ in particular on ‘em.” Bucky announced. Peggy kicked aside the now broken bottle that had fallen from the hands of the man she had knocked out.

“Simple thugs out for a night’s mugging.” She surmised, somewhat disappointed.

“Charming place, London.”

“About as charming as Brooklyn, actually.” Peggy drawled as Bucky rose to give her an assessing look.

“Hey, Brooklyn’s great.”

“I suppose it’s not without its charms. Pity you’re not one of them, Sergeant.”

“I don’t recall steppin’ on your toes earlier, Pegs, so if I did something to upset you that bad you’re gonna have to bring it to my attention.”

“Oh, you haven’t done a thing, Sergeant.” She said sweetly, flowing past him, pausing briefly at the mouth of the alley before stepping out onto the street again. She half turned towards Bucky, looking over her shoulder.  “The warehouse we’re looking for is just this way, do keep up. And Sergeant? Don’t call me ‘Pegs’”

Bucky sighed and followed her, carefully scanning the streets in case there were any more professional looking men on their tails. 

Gone was the tipsy stumbling and the giggles, gone the humming and the grinning. They may as well have been two different people than the ones who left The Iris Club a mere ten minutes ago.

They kept to the well-lit streets for only a little longer before necessity drove them to keeping in the shadows. As normal as it was for a giggling couple to slip into an alleyway for a little fun, it was a little less normal for a couple to be seen sneaking into a warehouse in the night.

Bucky kept his pace a little behind Agent Carter, keeping his eyes open for any sign of movement and his ears open for any sound of any more followers. The quiet should have been reassuring, but Bucky longed to feel the weight of his rifle in hand. Peggy’s little cudgel was great for coshing some mooks in an alley but would be much less useful against an enemy with a good long range weapon and a decent line of sight.

After another ten minutes of increasingly tense, silent walking they came to the collection of warehouses they were looking for. Two of them stood close to each other whilst a third and fourth made up a square around an open courtyard. There were a few parked lorries and plenty of shipping pallets and rather annoyingly a collection of workers apparently doing some overtime.

“Falsworth didn’t mention them.” Bucky groused quietly as they drew up behind a wall.

“If we’re careful we won’t need to worry about them. They’ll be off to the pub soon enough.” Peggy gestured to one of the warehouses. “Our one is there, on the left.”  

“Huh, ohkay, so is there a way ‘round the back? Cus I don’t think it’s gonna matter how good you are at knocking guys out, there’s too many of ‘em to get away with doing it quickly and quietly.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Sergeant. No need for us to cause a fuss, Falsworth said there’s a way round the back.”

Some quiet sneaking about led to the two of them sizing up the chain link fence, some seven feet high, stretched between the walls of the two warehouses barring their way.

“I take it Falsworth didn’t mention this to you either. Got any wire cutters?” Bucky asked innocently.

“As a matter of fact, yes. I did come prepared, you know.” She ignored Barnes’ look of mild confusion as she pulled a slim pair of cutters from her purse.

“You got a lot of things in there?”

“Quite a number of things, none of which are currently your business.”

Bucky huffed and turned to keep watch.

“Is sarcasm the only form of communication you Brits know about? How does any of you know how to take each other seriously?”

“We manage. It’s just certain others we find it difficult to take seriously.”

“Uh-huh. Falsworth is just as bad, though he’s usually a little less mean, y’know?”

It was Peggy’s turn to sigh heavily this time as she paused and looked back at Bucky irritably.

“Honestly, for a sniper you really are chatty.”

“I get lonely perched at range. It’s nice to have some company.” He deadpanned.

“Good heavens! You’re picking up the local lingo rather quickly.”

Bucky tipped his hat at her.

“Just wonderin’ if all you Brits’ve gotta mean streak is all.” He mused with a slight edge to his voice.

Peggy bit her lip to stifle her immediate retort which would have indeed been a stinging reply. She was beginning to feel a little baited and wasn’t willing to give the Sergeant any more fuel to use against her. Let him stew in his own bitterness for a while. Instead she bent to her task and cut a neat line up through the links, peeling back the wire to create a gap just large enough for them both to squeeze through. Bucky pulled the thin metal back into place behind them, though it wouldn’t fool anyone on close inspection, it would hopefully look alright from a distance and stop anyone from having cause to investigate closer.

“Shall we?” Bucky gestured ahead as he turned to find Peggy waiting for him. She gave him a withering look and turned to lead the way carefully to a set of somewhat rickety looking stairs going up the outside of the building.

“See there?” she pointed up towards a small window above them. “That’s the office we need.”

At the top of the steps Bucky gave Peggy an expectant look, she resisted the urge to slap the smirk off his face and instead made quick work of picking the lock.

“Honestly, I’m not sure why you’re here at all, Barnes, if you’re not going to start pulling your weight I might have to insist you stay at the club next time.”

“Fine by me. I’m not the one who came with a tool kit that matches her outfit.”

“Precisely why you’re not really needed.” Peggy smiled sweetly at him.

 

Peggy had at first decided to brush off the Sergeant as just another cocky American soldier out for guts and glory. Her initial opinion had been tempered somewhat by the constant glowing reports of friendship and care from Steve and then the numerous good reports from not only the brass but Barnes’ peers. The fact that his easy grace and proud charm were not affected solely for the sake of attracting female company, but were genuine parts of his personality only irritated her all the more. He was intelligent as well as an able fighter and an apparent crack shot. Not to mention the devotion he clearly felt towards Steve and the endearing way in which Steve returned the mutual feeling. But all his intelligence did for her was make it clear that he knew how to make jabs of his words and she couldn’t help but wonder exactly how Steve had put up with this man for so long.

As for Bucky, he followed Peggy down the walkway above the main body of the warehouse, eyeing the back of her head intently as if hoping to read her thoughts and intentions as plainly as a book. A lost cause if there ever was one, even if reading-minds was possible he doubted he’d be able get through the walls she threw up to stop anybody getting in. Here was this amazing bombshell of a dame, capable of not only holding her own, but outclassing pretty much everyone from the greenest private to the roughest Drill Sergeant. She was more than capable of standing up for herself and others and she looked like a million bucks whilst she was at it.

At first he’d been stunned when she’d waltzed into the room. She had been the most beautiful thing he’d seen in a long while, standing there in that red number like a fire in the room drawing everyone’s attention. But then she’d only had eyes for Steve. And, while he couldn’t really blame her for that, he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever looked at Steve that way before the serum. Before the stars and stripes got plastered on him and before he picked up that shield and become Captain damn America. It wasn’t that he envied Steve the attention. Well…maybe a little, it was new being overlooked for Steve, but that was alright, really, because it was about damn time the world started seeing Steve the way Bucky always had. If they were all only just now catching on to what a great thing Steven Grant Rogers was then they had better get in line to appreciate it because Bucky had been there the whole time telling the world just that. So if this dame was just after Steve for the thrill of it, for the status or the fame or the whatever…. if she was leading Steve on or planning on just getting her thrills and leaving Steve heartbroken, well then, Bucky would have a few things to say about that. He might not need to fight off guys in an alley to protect Steve anymore, the thought was laughable now, but for all the points in Steve’s favour he didn’t really know a damn thing about women. And so, Bucky vowed that if this or any other dame had designs on Steve, well they’d need to pass his muster first.

 

The door to the office soon yielded before Peggy’s nimble fingers and lock-picks. They found themselves in a neat little room with large windows overlooking the warehouse floor. From the office they could look down over the crates and boxes and shelves stacked there. There was a desk in the back middle of the room and filing cabinets filled in the corners. Some papers were stacked under a weight on the desk and an umbrella had been left in a bucket by the door.

“Falsworth’s information should be in one of these cabinets.” Peggy announced.

“I’m gonna give him hell later for his vague as anything instructions.” Bucky groaned.

It took them about an hour of increasingly frustrating searching through the files till Bucky laid his hands on the one they needed, an encoded message hidden away by the SSR informant and cousin of the warehouse owner.

Peggy quickly scanned through the message enough to know that it was definitely what they’d come for, before handing it back to Bucky who carefully folded it and placed it into the inner pocket of his jacket.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve had quite enough of this assignment. Let’s get back to H.Q, shall we?” Peggy asked, checking the room was as they’d found it.

“Yes, ma’ am.” Bucky replied dryly and Peggy realised with a stab of sheer frustration that it was the only time that evening he’d bothered to address her with any particular formality with respect to her rank. She was about to point this out to him when a loud cry went up in the distance and an unfortunately familiar wailing siren started up, followed by another, and another, until a chorus of air raid sirens split the so far quiet night accompanied by the distant rumbling of the planes. She cut off her retort as both she and Bucky snapped quickly into action.

“We need to get out of here and into the nearest shelter, now!” she hissed.

Bucky just nodded and shoved her through the doorway and out onto the warehouse walkway.

“There’s a community shelter nearby for the workers.” Peggy called over her shoulder, “It’s a couple of streets away though we’ll have to hurry.” 

Bucky was glad of her local knowledge now more so than at any other time that evening. True she’d been the one able to find the right warehouse but he had no idea where the local shelters were. He clamped his jaw shut on the rising panic and did his best to ignore how the warehouse walkway suddenly felt a lot like the top of the walkway in the HYDRA factory Steve had pulled him out of. 

There was noise everywhere, air raid sirens, loud bombers and people yelling. 

They were just about to clatter through the door and out down the back stairs the way they’d come in when the roaring noise of the planes was suddenly and eerily drowned out by the wailing of the sirens and the piercing whine of something falling too close by. Battlefield instinct kicked in and Bucky lunged, grabbing Peggy around the waist. He’d planned on pulling her back from the door and windows when there was an almighty crash followed instantaneously by the ground beneath the warehouse seeming to buck up under them, a shockwave blew out the windows and something smashed into the wall. The walkway gave out and something hard and unyielding slammed into Bucky’s back. His legs gave out as the breath was knocked out of him and the walkway was groaning and falling and something was throwing him and Peggy backwards. Splintering wood, smashing glass, crumbling brickwork, deafening noise, rush of hot air and cold wind and flash of bright light and sharp pain and darkness. 


	2. After the Bombshell Drops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peggy and Bucky are forced to have a little heart to heart. Literal bombshell falls, emotional bombshells follow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky Barnes is an absolute sweetheart who loves his best friend so much and Peggy has no reason to be shy, we all love Steve, it's ohkay.

Peggy woke to an eerie silence. She blinked her eyes open cautiously, wondering what had happened before it came back to her in a rush.

_Dancing and pretending to drink at the Iris club. Mooks in the alley. Breaking in. Gathering intel at the dead drop in the office. Air raid. Bomb._

_A bomb hit us, a bomb landed on us, how am I alive? Am I alive? Coughing, yes, definitely alive…Barnes…is Barnes alive…Oh, Steve I hope for your sake he is…_

She found herself lying mostly on her side with a heaviness trapping her legs from moving too much and something digging into her ribs, she wasn’t being completely crushed but it was painful and restricting nonetheless. She was grateful to still have legs at all as she peered through the still settling dust and debris to see a very narrow field of vision around her. She looked around as best she could, trying to keep still to save from disturbing the debris and making things worse, but she really needed to find Barnes and to see what was going on about that bomb…

She tried calling out but was choked off by a coughing fit that ached her ribs to hell and back. It was too dark to really see what state she was in let alone find Barnes by sight alone. She couldn’t even really see the sky above but from the quiet sounds drifting in amidst the crumbling brickwork and groaning of unsteady metal walkway beams around her, she guessed the raid must have ended. The sirens had stopped, there were no rumbling plane engines. She couldn’t hear any sounds of people nearby, she hoped the workers in the courtyard had had time to get to cover before the bomb had fallen. She couldn’t see enough light or feel enough heat for the shell to have been an incendiary bomb so at least they didn’t have to worry about fire, but she did feel precisely like someone had dropped a large portion of building on top of her.

“Sergeant? Sergeant Barnes?” she croaked out as loud as she could, her throat was dry and her lips coated in dust. She wriggled her arm free and wiped at her mouth, knowing her lipstick would now be smeared across her hand and face. She felt a wetness on her hand and noted that her lipstick wasn’t the only thing making her hand red. By careful prodding she found what felt to be a small enough cut on her forehead, nothing deep, just a graze that let blood trickle down her face. Her knuckles were badly scraped too which didn’t help matters. She wiped it away as best she could with her sleeve and called again.

“Barnes? So help me you’d better answer me this minute.” She coughed again and shifted, feeling the something pressing against her side. She had assumed it was some rubble digging into her but upon closer inspection it was Barnes’, his arm underneath her. Her heart in her mouth she cautiously wriggled painfully to the side and felt along his arm. It was both warm to the touch and thankfully still attached to the rest of him, leading her to give a great sigh of relief that highlighted the fact that some of her ribs were, if not broken, quite badly bruised.

“Barnes?” She tried again but had no response. She strained her eyes, pushing her hair back from her face, only just able to make out his now tousled hair in the darkness. He too was on his side, almost on his front, the arm that had been under her stretched out before him…she dimly recalled the sensation of him yanking her back from the doorway just before the bomb had hit.

“Oh, you idiot, please don’t be dead, Steve will never forgive either of us if you’ve died trying to protect me.” She pleaded quietly, still hoarse but unable to be quiet. There was enough of that as it was.

She couldn’t free her legs, now she was more awake, she could feel it was the cold metal of what seemed to be part of the walkway pinning her there, but she was able to shuffle around a little bit so that she could reach Barnes a little easier. The loud and sudden creaking of distressed metal kept her from moving any more than that. She was able to sit almost upright, though the motion made her dizzy and her ribs complain. Her hands were shaking as she reached out gingerly to touch Barnes’ head, she could just see his face but it was too dark to see if he was breathing well or not and she could barely assess her own injuries, let alone his. As her fingers threaded through his hair checking for head wounds she was relieved to hear him groan low and quiet with a wince furrowing his brow.

“Oh thank goodness,” She sighed heavily, feeling a weight of anxiety uncoil from her stomach, leaving her a little lightheaded but hugely relieved. “Alright, you’re alive for now, do me a favour and stay that way, ohkay, Barnes?”

An incoherent mumble followed her order and she hoped that meant he was responding to her.

“That’s right,” She told him, choosing to continue as if he could hear and understand her. “You just keep breathing now. Think, what would Steve want you to do?”

“Wha…unnh…”

“Exactly. Do as you’re told for once.”

“Peg?” Came a small, somewhat muffled and clearly pained reply.

“Ah, good, you’re with me after all.”

There was a bit of a delay before the next reply,

“Wha’happened?”

“It appears a shell almost landed right on top of our heads. Most of a warehouse definitely did land on us though.”

“Uh, oh. R’you’kay?”

Peggy considered her response for a moment. Her head was throbbing mightily, her ribs ached ferociously, she could feel her ankle swelling already and she was certain her shins were bleeding from where the metal railing was pinning her down. She had countless other scrapes, grazes and bruises, a slight ringing in her ear and the general shakiness accompanying nearly being blown up. Not bad overall, if somewhat uncomfortable.

“I’m fine. A little battered but I don’t think anything’s broken.” She could make out the beam across Barnes’ shoulders and the rubble and debris covering most of the rest of him, one of his legs was visible under a generous coating of dust and the remains of a splintered box. “Are you alright?” She asked, there was a significant delay where she supposed Barnes was doing a similar self-assessment.

“Feel like a warehouse fell on me.” Came the eventual reply.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, soldier. It was only a part of a warehouse.”

She heard a brief muffled chuckle cut off by a series of coughs, which encouraged her. If he could breathe enough to chuckle and cough he wasn’t in immediate danger of suffocating on her.

“Anything broken?” She asked,

“The warehouse?”

“Your head, maybe?”

“Quite possible.”

She saw him attempt to shift himself a little, perhaps exploring how trapped he was but with little success.

“I think that beam on you is wedged in pretty tight.” She assessed. “Best not wriggle about too much in case the rest of it comes down on top of us.”

Bucky stilled instantly and instead tried to pillow his head on his outstretched arm. His head was now within easy reach from where she had wriggled herself into a nearly sitting position, so she gently reached out and laid her hand on him.

“Hold still, I’m just going to check your head for injuries.” She instructed.

“You worried about me now, Mogs?”

It really would have been bad form to whack him for the nickname whilst he was lying trapped under half a warehouse and possibly hurt quite badly already…

“Do shut up, now Barnes.” Peggy said, instead of whacking him she ran her hand softly over his head, she didn’t find any blood or untoward bumps, so she gave him a soft, slightly condescending pat on the head when she was done.

“It seems your skull is still in one piece, Barnes. Congratulations.”

“Thas real good, cus right now it feels like it’s in a dozen pieces.”

Bucky shifted a little more, trying to look up at where Peggy was leaning against the debris. He squinted at her in the darkness, the lights weren’t back on in London town yet and even so there wasn’t much light to be had in the bottom of a quiet warehouse at night. As his slightly blurred vision cleared and he wiped the dust from his eyes on his sleeve, he could make out Peggy’s dishevelled face in the dark. Her previously neatly pinned hair was in complete disarray, loose curls falling every which way, a cut high on her forehead had trailed blood down her face and she was covered in brick dust. Her dress was torn at the shoulder, but she had a look of steady determination on her face as she peered around them.

“You got anything in that bag of yours that would get us outta’ here?” He asked.

“I’m not entirely sure where my bag currently is, but no. I didn’t think to bring my crowbar and the truck’s back at HQ.”

“What? So unprofessional.” Bucky quietly feigned outrage. “What kind of Agent are you?”

Peggy jabbed him lightly in the shoulder and winced as the movement jostled her leg. Bucky caught the flash of pain across her features.

“Hey, don’t go movin’ around so much, gotta be careful.”

“No, no it’s fine, it’s just this,” She reached down to her thigh and after a careful moment of shuffling about brought out a small calibre pistol from her thigh holster.

“Huh.” Bucky grunted.

“What?” Peggy raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Just, well, if I’d’a known you were armed I mighta’ not called ya Mogs s’much.”

“Mmm, let that be a lesson to you, then. I make it a point to always be armed.”

“Duly noted, Ma’am. You plannin’ on doing anything in particular with that?” He gestured to the pistol.

“Aside from not having it jab me in the leg, not especially. We might need it to draw some attention if we can’t get ourselves out of here by morning.”

“You think we’re good an” stuck?”

“I might just be able to get my legs free, you however, are a little more entrenched.”

Bucky gave a low chuckle. “Serve’s me right for getting between you and that railing.”

Peggy opened her mouth to protest but Bucky cut her off “No, no, don’t bother. M’just carryin’ on the fine Barnes tradition of getting in over my head on Steve’s account.”

Peggy sighed then, “He’s going to be awfully worried, isn’t he?”

“Unbearably so, yeah.”

“At least the others know we’re here.” Peggy said. “They’ll probably be faster reaching us than the ARP’s or the workers.”

“All the same, maybe we should try and get ourselves out first, much less embarrassing all round.” Bucky suggested.

“Quite.” Peggy wasn’t overly keen on trying to explain to any wardens coming by what the two of them were doing inside a closed off warehouse late at night. It wasn’t exactly a conventional spot to go romancing, they’d just have to sell it really well…or, as had been suggested, rescue themselves first.

But despite their determination, a few minutes wriggling and experimenting with leverage earned them nothing more than another hefty showering of brick dust from above with accompanying metallic grinding as the debris above their heads shifted and threatened to come down on them completely. They had to stop when their movements caused the heavy bar across Peggy’s legs to dig in even harder than before, making her hiss in pain at the same time as Barnes lost the rest of his wriggle room when the railing on top of him shifted and pinned him down further.

“Ow. Alright, plan B.” He said into the floor with an amused tone. “Wait for our knight in spangled armour.”

“You don’t sound too upset about it.” Peggy observed. “I would’ve thought you’d hate the idea of being the one in need of rescue.”

“Yeah well, me an” Steve stopped keeping score a while ago. And he really can’t lecture me about getting into dangerous situations.”

“You two do seem to take care of one another.” Peggy observed softly. Bucky made a noise that sounded to her as if he would have shrugged easily at her comment but was currently unable to actually shrug.

 

A surprisingly easy quiet fell on the both of them as they waited and listened for any sounds of impending structural collapse. After a little while, Peggy heard Bucky rustling about with his free arm, seemingly trying to find something in his pockets.

“Aww, damn.” He huffed under his breath after a little while.

“What?”

“Was lookin’ for some chocolate.”

“You habitually carry some around in your pockets?”

“I am always armed, Agent Carter.”

Peggy rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t withhold a smile.

“You Americans are quite ridiculous. You especially. Did you forget you’d eaten it already?”

“I didn’t eat it. I forgot I gave it to Steve. He already gave his ration out to some kids the other day. D’y’know how much extra food that punk has to eat now he’s all huge? I would’a been workin’ three times as hard to keep us goin’ back in Brooklyn if he’d been need’n this much fillin.” 

Peggy’s quick retort had died in her throat as she recalled a quiet, stolen moment with Steve, sharing some chocolate, just the previous evening. Bucky picked up on her guilty expression and she was grateful for the dark that was hopefully hiding the blush creeping across her cheeks. She wasn’t sure it was.

“I think I might owe you then.” She confessed, knowing that he would understand her meaning perfectly well. She looked down and away, feeling a little foolish.

“And, I owe you an apology.” She started before Bucky could open his mouth, “I’m afraid I misjudged you at our first meeting and have done very little to get to know you properly.”

Bucky blinked in surprise, “Sure, well I don’t blame ya for only having eyes for Steve. Bit of a role reversal for us but I ain’t gonna be bitter about it. The guy damn well deserves some attention. But I guess I didn’t really make it easy for ya.” Bucky tried to wriggle around to get a better look up at her without straining his neck further without much success. When he spoke again his voice was quiet, but with a hardened edge he was clearly trying to hold back. “Listen, I don’t know you that well either, Agent Carter but seeing as we’re having a bit of a moment here I gotta ask you something.”

Peggy met his eyes, it might just have been the sudden edge in his tone or the darkness but she thought she could make out the darkening of bruising under his eye. It made him look a lot less warm than usual.

“Are you on the level with Steve? You serious ‘bout him? ‘Cus I gotta tell ya, he’s awful sweet on ya Peggy, and he might not need me pulling bullies off’a him anymore but I ‘aint about to stand around and let his heart get broken by some dame whose just after a bit of a thrill. You understand?”

Peggy was sure that at any other time, in almost any other situation she would have not only have straight up punched Barnes, or anyone else who dared imply such a thing and so brazenly to her face at that, but also given them a darn good lecture about assumptions and propriety. As it was, she not only couldn’t get a good angle for a really decent right hook, but she felt she understood exactly where Barnes was coming from. It was the same fierce instinct she’d felt herself. She thought about the amount of times she’d wanted to knock Hodge on his arse again back at Camp Leheigh for the snide remarks he’d made about Steve.

She thought about the times when Steve had told her about how Bucky had worked extra shifts to find the money for medicine when Steve had been ill so regularly in the winters back in Brooklyn. The times when Barnes had helped calm him down out of the terrifying asthma attacks he was so glad to be free of now. How Barnes had been patching him up, feeding him up, setting him up and warming him up since they were kids. Maybe they had a little more in common than she’d thought. And suddenly all her doubt about the character of the man trapped with her evaporated and she felt herself a great fool for not having understood what Steve had been telling her all this time. Simply said, anyone who had the patience to look after and stick with the holy terror that was Steve Rogers, even when he was only a 90lb ball of righteous fury, well, they must be not only the most loyal of friends, but the most genuine also.

So, Peggy swallowed down the initial spark of anger and met Barnes eyes steadily, despite the sudden and unexpected butterflies in her stomach at the thought of what she was about to admit.

“I have no intentions of hurting Steve, in any way.” She said evenly, not bothering to try and hide the blush she could feel warming her cheeks. “Steve is…. He’s very dear to me too.”

And as simply as if she’d said some magic words all the hard challenge in Barnes eyes and stiff posture melted away to be replaced with the same warmth she had thought was just an act at the dance club earlier that night.

“Ohkay. I believe ya.” He said. “Means I owe you an apology too. Been a bit of an ass to ya. It’s just – well, y’know he told me ‘bout the serum and Erskine and everything, right?”

“Yes, well apparently nothing is confidential between the two of you.”

“Your best pal turns up outta the blue to rescue you from being tortured, and he’s suddenly a lot taller and wider than you remember him bein’ then you kinda wanna find out exactly what dumbass thing they signed up for that made that happen. Damn right I made him tell me. Anyway, before the serum, people, dames specially, just didn’t really take much notice of him. I used to feel sorry for em, they didn’t know what they were missin’ out on. Now people look at him all starry eyed but all they see is the swanky uniform and the muscle.”

“That’s understandable, it must have been quite the shock for you.”

“You read the report?” He asked, his voice slightly guarded, Peggy nodded. She cringed at the thought of what the survivors of the 107th had been put through.

“Straight up thought I was seein’ things.” Bucky admitted a little quieter. Peggy bit her lip briefly before asking,

“Did Steve also tell you that I was there at Camp Leheigh with Erskine? Before the experiment?”

“Yeah, he only mentioned you like a hundred times.”

“Many people thought Erskine had made some kind of mistake bringing Steve to the camp. But there was something different about him that ran deeper than outward appearances. Like you, I pity the ones who didn’t see it at first. Steve stood out, used his brain, unlike most of his regiment.”

“You sayin’ you fell for him before the serum?” Peggy heard the teasing in his voice, no edges this time, just laughter bubbling up under the surface. She thwacked him lightly on the head to cover a furious blush.

“That’s quite enough of that, thank you. I believe we’ve come to some sort of understanding, do try not to spoil the moment.”

“S’not fair, hitting a guy who can’t defend himself! What would Steve have to say about that?”

“That would require an explanation of the conversation leading up to that well deserved disciplinary action and don’t you dare even think of breathing a word of it to Steve or I may be tempted to shot you.”

“I believe you would. Not to worry, strictly confidential, I won’t say a word, not yet anyway. Give you two lovebirds a chance to work it out by yourselves.” This earned him another sharp prod which did very little to prevent the wide grin now plastered on his face.


	3. After the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Falsworth arrive on the scene. Steve is worried and unaware of what a huge hypocrite he is (this man jumps out of jets without parachutes for crying out loud, he has no moral high ground here.) and Falsworth is quietly sarcastic and if he knew of such things would be wishing he had a smart phone so he could record all of this wonderful bribe material.

In the end, Peggy and Bucky had been waiting trapped under a good portion of the broken warehouse for four hours. The streets outside had taken on the odd silent quality of a town that is sleeping, despite the raid and the worry of what troubles the next day would bring. People kept calm and carried on. The shell that had fallen hadn’t crushed any houses and hadn’t set anything on fire so the rescue teams and ARP wardens had concentrated their efforts elsewhere, meaning that it was down to Captain America himself to rescue his comrades.

Both Peggy and Bucky had been doing their best to keep the other awake, driving off the shock, pain and the chill as best they could with conversation that was steadily growing easier between them. Still, by the time Steve came by the warehouse the two of them were considerably closer, but feeling somewhat worse for wear.

“We’re in big trouble now.” Bucky groaned after hearing Steve’s desperate yells as he drew closer.

Peggy had grimaced in agreement with Bucky before raising her voice as much as her parched throat would allow.

“We’re here! Steve we’re alright!” She ignored Bucky’s huff of derision, as if either of them were really alright.

“Peggy!” Steve called, there was some scrambling and some muttered cursing from Falsworth as the two of them approached. Falsworth was puffing and breathing hard, clearly having a hard time keeping up with the Captain. They could hear him trying to radio in a report as Steve carefully made his way through the wreckage to where he had heard Peggy’s voice

“It’s alright, I’ve gotcha,” He said, easily moving aside huge portions of brickwork and parts of railing and crates that were trapping them.

“Falsworth, I need your light,” Steve called,

“You chaps really know how to muck up a simple espionage mission, don’t you?” Came Falsworth’s clipped tones from somewhere just out of sight. Suddenly Peggy and Bucky’s little space was flooded with light and Steve’s head appeared, mostly in silhouette above them.

“You sure you’re ohkay?” He was taking in everything about their cramped and precarious situation, the beams and bars pinning them, every scrape and cut and bruise visible from where he peered down just a little above them, just out of reach. “Buck?”

“Yeah, we’re just peachy. You can take yer time, don’t worry.”

“Oh yes, he’s fine.” Falsworth deduced. “We can come back in the morning.”

“Screw you, Monty.” Bucky replied without bothering to try and raise his head.

“Hold on, just a little longer.” Steve reassured as he once again ducked out of sight, directing Falsworth to hold the torches so he could see what he was doing as he gingerly began moving debris out of the way.

It took a whole fifteen minutes of careful removing to dig them out. By which time Steve’s heart was doing a number on him. One he’d thought he’d left behind but one he was beginning to get all too familiar with. He’d felt it back in Azzano when he’d discovered what had happened to the 107th. He’d felt it when Falsworth had told him about the isolation ward, when he’d seen Bucky strapped to that table, when that beam across the burning factory had given way with Bucky barely making it to the other side. He’d felt it earlier that night when the sirens had gone off and he’d realised Bucky and Peggy weren’t back from their assignment yet.

He’d felt it thumping and stuttering even harder when Falsworth had careened in with a report that the area where the drop had been, where Bucky and Peggy had gone that night, had been hit in the raid. He hadn’t waited to re-group with Gabe and Jones, Dernier was still holed up somewhere in a lab with Stark and he hadn’t honestly spared him a thought. He’d just yelled for Falsworth to grab some gear and take him to the warehouse that minute. He’d felt it gnawing away in his chest the whole time it had taken them to cross London in the aftermath of an air raid. Though the streets were quieter by the time he’d gotten word of things, there were fires being put out and rubble across streets and winding paths to get them where they were needed.

But finally, Steve was able to hop down into their small space and hoist up the beam across Peggy’s legs, Falsworth was there too, torch in his mouth as he hooked his hands under Peggy’s elbows to help her shuffle back, her legs now numb from prolonged stillness and her toes near frozen. Peggy found Steve’s leather jacket draped around her as he gave her a fond, careful look and his hand gently cupped her face for a few long seconds before he looked over her shoulder to nod at Falsworth, while he turned his attention to Bucky.

“Gee Buck, you only had to collect some papers, right?”

“Hey, I didn’t have anything to do with the bomb, Steve, that one ain’t on me.”

“It very nearly was, Buck.”

Steve got his shoulder under the beam and hefted it away off of Bucky.

“Looks like I’ll be carrying you outta this, pal.” Steve said as his hands made quick and careful work of checking Bucky over for any serious damage.

“M’alright, Steve.”

“You’re not alright, Buck, but looks like it could be worse, c’mere.” He carefully picked Bucky up from the floor, completely stifling Bucky’s attempts to push himself upright and propped him up next to Peggy. Before either of them had any warning he’d pulled them both into a tight hug, an arm around each of them. Falsworth chuckled to himself and discreetly moved himself away to keep watch outside.

Bucky found himself with his arm trapped between Steve’s chest and Peggy’s arm, Steve’s massive shoulder under his chin, his ear pressed against Steve’s. He could feel Steve’s hand gripping him tightly at his back pinning him against his broad chest. He couldn’t meet Peggy’s eye, Steve’s head was in the way, but she was in a similar position. He dazedly brought his free hand up to return the hug.

“It’s alright, Steve.” He heard Peggy say beside him.

“Not lettin’ either of you outta’ my sight again.”

“Ohkay, pal.” Bucky said, patting him on the back.

Steve resisted the urge to hold onto them both tighter and instead settled back on his heels to look at them, keeping his hands on their shoulders. “Seriously now, I don’t know what, what I’d do if…” the words stuck in his mouth.

Peggy smiled tenderly at him and Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Gah Steve, yer such a sap.”

 

After hugging them again for a little longer, Steve decided he needed to get them back to HQ for a check in with the nurses as soon as he could. Not that Bucky or Peggy particularly minded the slightly awkward group hug. The heat pouring off Steve was doing them both good, warming them up from too long near motionless in the chill of night.

Even in Steve’s rush to get to the warehouse in the first place, Falsworth had managed to grab a first aid kit, Steve gently wrapped Peggy’s ankle and Falsworth tended to Bucky’s arm, rigging up a surprisingly neat and supportive sling in almost no time.

Steve did have a brief moment of despair as he realised he wouldn’t be able to carry them both, at least not without aggravating their injuries any further, but it turned out that both of them were more or less able to stand and walk. Albeit very gingerly and with a lot of assistance.

The trek back to H.Q. was slow going, they walked in a line, Bucky on one end, nearly doubled over but kept more or less upright by Steve’s arm about his waist helping to take his weight. Steve’s other arm was around Peggy, easily taking most of her weight too as she avoided putting any pressure on her ankle. Falsworth bracketed Peggy on the other side, his arm respectfully around her shoulders. Steve really did try his best not to fret too much over them but both Peggy and Bucky could feel Steve’s grip around them tighten occasionally. They managed to share a look across Steve’s broad chest then, Peggy gave Bucky a warm and genuine smile, Bucky winked at her and smiled back, both sharing the thought that Steve really had no idea how cherished he was, but both of them dedicated to showing him.

 


End file.
